Qualcomm to buy assets of Rapid Bridge

Terms not disclosed in deal for San Diego consulting firm

Qualcomm has reached an agreement acquire the assets of Rapid Bridge LLC, a privately held San Diego consulting firm for the semiconductor industry.

The purchase price was not disclosed, and Qualcomm declined to provide further information, including the number of employees and revenue of Rapid Bridge.

But in a statement, Qualcomm said Rapid Bridge reduces the complexity in integrated circuit development, allowing design flexibility to try to shrink the size and power consumption of chips.

Qualcomm is trying to stand out from rivals in the mobile applications processor market by touting chips that produce hefty computing power without draining too much power.

Rapid Bridge’s San Diego design team and San Diego and Bangalore engineering services operations will be integrated into Qualcomm Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) Technologies group.

Rapid Bridge has been providing design services to chip companies for 10 years. It patented technologies include LiquidIP, LiquidASIC, LiquidSoC and Core Power Reduction technology. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and certain milestones being hit. It s expected to be completed by the end of September.